What’s the night-time for then?
July 3, 2007 by piereth
Answer: sleep. Except if you live here!
R has spent the last few nights going down really well at 6.30pm and getting up really well at 3am. And that, my friends, is the head and front of his offending. One of us has to get up with him. He’s totally awake, and there’s no possibility of settling him - it just won’t happen. He’ll cry for as long as you leave him, and while I can easily leave him to cry for 3 or 4 minutes, 20 minutes is another matter.
So we’re one night off, one night on and the off member of the team gets to go into the spare room and use earplugs, alcohol, iPod, any thing to block out the racket. The other person runs the gauntlet and prays for an extra hour’s kip. In vain.
I think the most debilitating thing about babies’ sleep patterns is that you get settled into a routine, you let your guard down and they change. It’s like being punched in the ear when you’re deeply asleep.
Daddy’s job is supposed to be playing horsey, chasing, tickling and rasslin’ to keep the kid awake until he dutifully craps out at a decent hour after a short wind-down.
Bad daddy.
As a long-term nanny and person of Irish descent, I find a few glugs of Guiness do wonders. And a pint for oneself, too.
Ah yes, that’s the thing about babies - everything keeps changing as they develop. Their whole existance seems to happen in a much faster time than ours - kind of like dog years, only in reverse…
I’m making no sense now so I will go away and get some sleep (sorry)
Robodad, you sound like an ably-qualified father who knows his job description well!!
My dearest T - I was tempted. Sorely. To dose him up, I mean. I seem to have no problem greasing my own wheels, as I’m sure you can well believe!!!